Jessica Love-Nichols

Jessica Love-Nichols is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Macalester College. Her research focuses on the intersection of language, identity, and environmental conservation, exploring how sociocultural factors like gender, class, and regional identity shape interactions with environmental discourses. She holds a PhD and MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BA from Reed College (2008).

Her research areas include sociophonetic analysis of environmental stances, chronotopes in environmental media, and language use in development contexts. She has conducted studies in Nicaragua, examining community agency in development work and teachers' perceptions of student language. Collaborations include work with Morgan Sleeper on country musicians' chronotopes and authentic persona construction.

Teaching spans linguistics and Spanish at the college level, including courses like Phonology, Language and Climate Change, and Language, Gender, and Sexuality. She has extensive prior teaching experience, including first-grade instruction in NYC, Peace Corps environmental education in Nicaragua, and teacher training at Nicaragua's José Martí college.

Her outreach includes the SKILLS program, teaching sociolinguistics to youth. Personal interests include rock climbing and mountain appreciation.